Respiratory endosymbiont genomes recovered from groundwater samples. Respiratory endosymbiont genomes recovered from groundwater samples

The endosymbiont Candidatus Azoamicus ciliaticola generates ATP for its eukaryotic host, an anaerobic ciliate of the Plagiopylea class, fulfilling a function analogous to mitochondria in other eukaryotic cells. The discovery of this respiratory endosymbiosis has major implications for both evolutionary history and ecology of microbial eukaryotes. However, with only a single species described, knowledge of its environmental distribution and diversity is limited. Here we report four new complete, circular metagenome assembled genomes (cMAGs) representing respiratory endosymbionts inhabiting groundwater in California, Ohio, and Germany.